


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Danny and Dewei

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [26]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 13:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18262361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: Natasha has got to stop spending time with heroes and vigilantes, because they keep just finding even more heroes and vigilantes that she’s never heard of before, and it’s getting out of hand, but then again, Natasha’s supposedly a hero herself, so she has a feeling she’ll never escape having more and more people in need thrown her way. Oh well. Retirement’s for quitters, anyway.





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Danny and Dewei

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the series, or if you're new here, welcome! This part of the series is about Danny and Dewei. This story is shorter than my attention span, but I hope it's still enjoyable :)

Natasha has got to stop spending time with heroes and vigilantes, because they keep just finding even more heroes and vigilantes that she’s never heard of before, and it’s getting out of hand, but then again, Natasha’s supposedly a hero herself, so she has a feeling she’ll never escape having more and more people in need thrown her way. Oh well. Retirement’s for quitters, anyway.

 

She’ll deal with Wade Wilson another day, though, because today she’s focused on getting Danny’s dog. She’d originally planned on getting Matt’s dog first, but she just can’t figure out exactly what kind of dog to get him, and even if she does go with a German Shepherd, it’ll be awhile before anyone’s supposed to be breeding again, so it’s Danny’s turn instead.

 

She meets the breeder at the man’s house in Minnesota, and picks the puppy that seems like the best candidate, a cute little male that she already has a name for: Dewei, from Chinese, meaning “noble” or “of great principle.” If she had chosen a girl, the name would have been Yong, also from Chinese, meaning “brave.”

 

Natasha flies home with two month old Dewei, and back at the tower, he’s quickly welcomed into the family.

 

* * *

 

Dewei takes a bit longer to train than some of the other dogs Natasha’s worked with; it’s not that he has a lot of tasks in comparison to the other dogs, he’s just a bit stubborn, and it takes a while for Natasha to convince him to actually listen to his commands consistently. Once he’s trained, however, he does a damn good job; he works hard, performs his tasks consistently, and is calm and confident in public space.

 

Natasha gets Luke to send her Danny’s number, and then she texts Danny asking him to come to the tower. Danny sends her back “sure! :D” and Natasha’s tempted to roll her eyes, because he reminds her a lot of Peter, and she’s not sure she’s ready to deal with two dumbass kids, one’s already enough. But she waits for Danny to show up, and when he arrives on the communal floor he stops when he sees Dewei.

 

“Lord of Light,” Danny breathes, “is he for me? He’s got to be, he has the calmest energy I’ve ever seen in a dog, holy shit, Nat, he’s gorgeous.”

 

Natasha grins, walking Dewei over to him. “Yeah, he’s yours. He’s probably going to need a few weeks to warm up to you, he’s definitely more stubborn than some of the other dogs I’ve trained, but he’s all for you.”

 

Danny nods. “Yeah, yeah of course. What’s his name?”

 

“Dewei.”

 

“Yeah, that fits him perfectly. Okay, so, how do I get to know him better?”

 

* * *

 

Natasha walks Danny through working with Dewei over the next few weeks, giving both of them time to get used to each other, but Dewei already seems to bond better with Danny than he ever had with Natasha. Danny and Dewei move together so fluidly that it’s hard to imagine they ever didn’t work together, and Natasha’s happy for both of them.

 

She takes Danny to a restaurant for his first time in public with Dewei, and they do absolutely amazing. Natasha’s a little blown away by just how much food Danny’s capable of eating in one sitting, and Danny shrugs when she asks him about it over his fourth plate of pancakes. “Summoning chi to use the Fist takes a lot of energy, and that energy has to come from somewhere. It kind of helps that I’m me, so I’ve got access to just about all the money I could possibly want and as a result all the food I could possibly eat.” Danny points at the last of Natasha’s fries. “Can I?” Natasha slides the plate across the table to him, and he finishes off the fries, too.

 

“How are you feeling, about having Dewei?” Natasha asks.

 

“Pretty good. He’s a really great dog, Natasha, I can’t possibly say thank you enough times. I was also wondering, can you get Matt a dog? I think he really needs one.” Natasha smiles.

 

“Yeah, so I’ve been told. I’m definitely working on it.”

 

“Awesome.” Danny leans back from the table. “Hey, do you think I could order another plate of pancakes, or do you think they’re tired of me ordering more things by now?”

 

“As long as you pay them, I really don’t think they’ll care.”

 

“Cool, because the blueberry pancakes sound really good too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Service dog facts of the day:
> 
> -Just about any dog, including any dog breed, can be trained to do any task, command, or other skill. However, you will notice that certain breeds are more likely to do certain activities than other breeds (for example, Golden Retrievers playing fetch, or terrier breeds chasing small prey, etc). This applies to service dogs as well.
> 
> -While a service dog can be any breed, there's a reason that certain breeds are seen as the most common breeds for service dog work. I've seen this described on at least one occasion as "biddable" breeds, or in other words, breeds that are more likely to succeed in service dog work. There are a lot of factors that need to be taken under consideration when choosing a service dog candidate: size, trainability, energy level, working drive, socialization, and reactivity are just some of the factors that go into deciding what dog to choose as a candidate.
> 
> On the topic of factors to consider when choosing a service dog candidate, you can find a discussion about best service dog breeds on Pawsitivity Service Dogs [ here ](https://www.pawsitivityservicedogs.com/breeds)
> 
> -This is often why people will choose a dog from a "biddable" breed, such as Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, adn German Shepherds, because those breeds tend to possess many of the desirable traits you need in a service dog. I will also note that on the flip side, however, just because a dog is from a "biddable" breed does not necessarily mean they will work out as a service dog.
> 
> As those of you who have been following this series for a while may know, I (the author) am disabled and have been owner training a service dog for myself. My dog, Hamilton, is a Golden Retriever. I've had him since he was two (2) months old, and he is now one year and eight months (1 year 8 months) old. I was training him as a service dog, but have since washed him out as a service dog in training, meaning he will not continue training to be a service dog.
> 
> -I washed him out because he is incredibly friendly and people-oriented, and he just constantly wants to say hi to people when he's working, which is not what he should be focusing on as a service dog. I'm keeping him as a pet, and maybe someday I'll train him and have him certified as a therapy dog instead, so he can visit hospitals and such. But this is kind of my point. He's a great dog, very intelligent and caring, but he just doesn't have the "handler focus" to focus on me when he's in public. So even though he's from a "biddable" breed, as a Golden Retriever, he still just wasn't meant for service dog work.
> 
> -At this point, I'm going to add that there's a lot of important ethics in the service dog community, but what I'm talking about here is what I would rank as one of the top three ethics: The first is that a service dog should never, EVER, be aggressive. The second is that you should never work a dog that isn't mentally or physically fit to work. If your dog is ill, whether they just have a temporary illness or they have a long term, chronic condition, or they've experienced trauma and working causes them distress, you should not work that dog until they recover, if they can. And third, the point that I've discussed in these notes, is that if the dog isn't happy with the job they're being asked to do, you don't make them do it. You just don't. If the dog doesn't love their job, then that isn't the right job for them.
> 
> Anyway, with all of that said, I think my notes are now longer than the actual story this time around, whoops.
> 
> If you'd like to see other drabbles or notes related to this series, or want to talk to me about this series or anything else, you can find me on tumblr [ here ](https://servicedogsforsuperheroes.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!


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